A Foreign Country

[a Novel]

From the internationally acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of The Trinity Six, comes a compelling tale of deceit and betrayal, conspiracy and redemption

On the vacation of a lifetime in Egypt, an elderly French couple are brutally murdered. Days later, a meticulously-planned kidnapping takes place on the streets of Paris. Amelia Levene, the first female Chief of MI6, has disappeared without a trace, six weeks before she is due to take over as the most influential spy in Europe. It is the gravest crisis MI6 has faced in more than a decade. Desperate not only to find her, but to keep her disappearance a secret, Britain's top intelligence agentsturn to one of their own: disgraced MI6 officer Thomas Kell. Tossed out of the Service only months before, Kell is given one final chance to redeem himself - find Amelia Levene at any cost. The trail leads Kell to France and Tunisia, where he uncovers a shocking secret and a conspiracy that could have unimaginable repercussions for Britain and its allies. Only Kell stands in the way of personal and political catastrophe.

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"When the newly appointed Chief of MI6 -- Amelia Levene, the first woman ever to take the post -- disappears just before taking office, disgraced former MI6 officer Thomas Kell is offered a chance to redeem his career by conducting a discreet operation to find her. He accepts, not expecting that in the course of his search he'll unearth a shocking conspiracy. Author Charles Cumming is known for a vast insider's knowledge of spycraft, well-crafted prose that's on the literary side, and engaging, intricate plots; A Foreign Country offers all of these plus lead characters who make realistic, if sometimes flawed, choices." Thrillers and Suspense August 2014 newsletter http://www.libraryaware.com/996/NewsletterIssues/ViewIssue/a29ef1be-0034-4294-98de-a41bf6022587?postId=b18f1914-360e-4962-9b7b-d06eb6c6fe57

A finely woven spy vs spy novel that reads like a good low budget movie script as the characters are mostly working outside their respective national spy agency control and resources. Like a movie script, it moves fast without much depth and is easy to read. More like a hybrid of John le Carré and Graham Greene than like typical spy thrillers with intricate political conspiracies or a lot of gadgets/ammunition. Will appeal to those that like the former than the latter.

Cumming writes with ease and confidence. His strengths include creating a sense of place, well developed characters and story pacing that keeps the reader involved. Highly recommended for spy thriller aficionados.

?Retired? SIS officer Thomas Kell is called into to follow the new ?C? when she seemingly disappears from a painting class in France and heads to Tunisia. Who is the young man Kell sees her with? Lover? Or, someone more important?

I?ve heard this is the first of three thrillers for Cumming with this character. That?s great. I couldn?t put this book down! Better yet, Colin Firth is in line to play Thomas Kell in a movie version. Perfect. Now we just have to wait for more.

I like this book for the simple fact that it flies in the face of the standard spy thriller written by authors such as Brad Thor, Lee Child, Alex Berenson. Cliched, full of high octane rubbish and totally over the top.

This is more of what spy work should be up to: analysing intelligence, gathering data, surveillance.

The downside was that the story did not remain as compelling as it did initially, tapering off to what I can only say was "Blah."

It is a bit of a slow read, which gets slower as the disappointment of the story sets in, but it's still better than a typical Lee Child fare.